Sacramento's Got The Itch: STD Rates Double in 5 Years

If you are in the Sacramento area and you meet some lovely young ladies you want to party with, please think twice because there's a good chance you could bring home an unwanted present.

Sacramento County is now the proud owner of something it doesn’t want: the highest STD infection rate in the state. According to a state-sponsored study, sexually transmitted disease cases doubled from 2002 to 2006. Chlamydia cases rose 52% with almost 7700 cases being reported last years. Half the Chlamydia and gonorrhea cases were from women between 15 and 24 years old. The state’s average growth rate in Chlamydia cases was 16%.

The public health office believes that cases are on the rise because young people don’t consider their health when engaging in those activities. "Clearly, we haven't gotten the message to our young people about protecting themselves," said Dr. Glennah Trochet, the county's public health officer. "We have a problem. We need to work on it."University of California-Davis health educators have developed programs to educate their students. The program involves games like “Sex Jeopardy” and getting free condoms from campus superhero “Captain Condom”. There’s even a mobile cart on campus called the “Love Lab” where students can choose from a variety of condoms.